Fireplace basket construction



July 7,1959 1.. e. EMMONS FIREPLACE BASKET CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 8, 1957 I INVENTOR. Lehman GEmmons BY Fi s ATmmXs' opening.

United States Patent FIREPLACE BASKET CONSTRUCTION Lehman G. Emmons, near Alliance, Ohio Application January 8, 1957, Serial No. 633,146 4 Claims. cl. 126-165) My invention relates to improvements in fireplace baskets of the grated type and more specifically to means for controlling the draft to a fire in the basket, and also preferably means for closing off the front side of the hasket for limiting the passage of smoke out through the front of the fireplace.

Certain prior constructions of grated fireplace baskets have included'baskets, which are formed integrally with the fireplace itself. These prior baskets have usually included a'grated bottom member spaced from the fioor of the fireplace and at least a grated front member extending vertically upwardly from the front edge of the bottom member for retaining burning Wood or coal in the fireplace basket.

Further, certain of these prior constructions have included a separate fender, usually in the form of a solid generally vertically extending plate which may be placed on the hearth of the fireplace at the front edge of the fireplace basket for closing off the lower portion of a fireplace opening between the bottom of the basket and the floor of the fireplace. Such fenders have been effective as a safety measure for preventing burning pieces of wood or coal from falling out of the basket onto the hearth of the fireplace and are needed for 'such purpose since the basket extends to the front of the fireplace Further, these fenders have been effective to limit the amount of draft or air which may pass into the fireplace beneath the bottom of the fireplace basket and through thebasket bottom member. Thus, fenders of this type may be placed at the front of the fireplace after the fuel in the fireplace basket has started to burn rapidly for limiting the draft to the fire and thereby limiting the speed with which the fuel is consumed.

I One difiiculty with this separate fender is that it must either be completely removed or positioned in place and is therefore cumbersome and requires a storage place when not being used. A further and more important difficulty is that when'this fender is in place, it closes off the draft or air to all sides of the underside of the basket bottom member, since it is completely closing the lower portion of the fireplace opening, and this sometimes completely extinguishes' the fire.

In modern times, fireplaces are no longer depended on for heating purposes, but rather are used mainly for decorative purposes and not for the slight amount of heating value they provide; Thus, in modern fireplace construction, separate fireplace baskets are normally used which are of considerably smaller size than the total volume of the fireplace, with these baskets being positioned spaced rearwardly from the fireplace opening and within the fireplace. 'Further, since the fireplaces are no longer used for their heatingvalue, it is more desirable to limit the rate of burning of the fuel in the fireplace basket.

Some more modern constructions of fireplaces have included vertical plates similar to the before-discussed fireplace fenders but which are mounted slidable in vertical slots at the front opening of the fireplace. By positioning these plates against the floor of the. fireplace, it is therefore possible to limit the air entering the fireplace, passing beneath the fireplace basket and through the bottom member thereof.

Further, by sliding these plates vertically upwardlyv in their enclosing slots, it is possible to position the plates in horizontal alignment with the grated front wall of the fireplace basket and in this manner somewhat limit the amount of smoke which may pass through this basket front wall and out of the front of the fireplace. This controlling of smoking is particularly necessary in some fireplaces 'at the time when the fuel in the basket is first ignited until it begins to burn rapidly.

The principal difliculty with this prior fireplace construction is, as in the above-discussed separate fender construction, that by having the slidable plate extend;

completely across the front opening of the fireplace, the amount of air permitted to pass beneath the basket and through the basket bottom wall is too greatly limited when the plate is in its lower position and, therefore, there is sometimes not sufficient air to sustain the burn-Q ing of the fuel in the basket. Further difficulties with. this prior construction are that the plate, when in either position, is not efficient to serve its particular purpose, since it is spaced a considerable distance from the fire; place basket, and also the cost of installing this prior con: struction is high since the plate forms an integral part of the fireplace itself.

It is therefore desirable to provide a construction of fireplace and fireplace basket or fireplace basket alone in which there is means for limiting the draft to the fire in the basket, that is, the amount of air passing beneath the basket and through the basket bottom member, and in which this means is positioned within the fireplace and adjacent the fireplace basket in order to provide maxi-. mum efiiciency. Further, in order to limit the rate of burning of the fuel in the fireplace basket while still pro; viding sufiicient air to sustain this burning, it is desirable to provide means for limiting the amount of air passing beneath the front edge of the basket bottom member while still permitting a free passage of air beneath the side edges-of this basket bottom member.

Still further, even though fireplace constructions'have improved greatly over the years, there are still many times when trouble with smoking will be encountered when the fuel in the fireplace basket is first ignited. Thus, it is still desirable to provide means which may be positioned to close off the grated front wall of the fireplace basket at the time the fuel is first ignited and until it has begun to burn sufiiciently.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a grated fireplace basket construction which overcomes the foregoing objections to prior constructions and satisfies the above desires.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a grated fireplace basket which has means formed thereon for selectively limiting the air passing beneath the front edge of the basket bottom member, while still permitting a free passage of air beneath the side edges of the basket bottom member.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a grated fireplace basket construction which preferably also has means for selectively closing off the grated front wall of the basket to limit the amount of smoke passing out of the front of the fireplace when the fuel in the basket is first ignited. I

It is still'a further object of the present invention to provide preferably a single means which satisfies all of the foregoing objects.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a grated fireplace basket construction in which preferably a single means is selectively movable between" three positions, one limiting the amount of air beneath the front edge of the grated basket bottom member, one closing off the grated front wall of the basket, and one in which neither the air beneath the front edge of the B asketbottom"member is limited and the grated basket front' wall is closed. i e

Finally, it isan object of the present invention to provide a grated fireplace basket construction whichsatisfies all of the above objects in a simple and efficient mannet with a minimum cost of fabrication.

P These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, arran'gements, combinations and sub-combinations comprising the present invention, the nature of which is "set forth in the following'general statement,- a preferred embodiment of'which-illustrative of the best mode' in which applicant has contemplated applying the principlesis set forth in the followingdesc'ription -and illhstratedinthe accompanying drawings, and'which is parti'eularlyand distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming a part hereof. "The-present invention may be stated in general terms as inelnding a grated fireplace basket having a grated bottom" member spaced from the floor of the fireplace and preferably grated side'and bottom wall members and grated frontj'and back wall-members. Further, the present-invention includes meansfor selectively substantially closing'ofi the space between the edge of the bottom memher an the'fireplace floor for limiting draft through the basket' 'bottom member, With said means also preferably being selectively movable to a position substantially closing bitthe front wall member of the basket and a position in which neither the space between the basket bpttbm em er. a'nclthefireplace floor and the front wall ofthe basket are closed off.

means may be a plate member pivotally mounted adjaeent the front edge of the basket bottom member and being selectively pivotal to preferably three positions. In one position; this plate extends downwardly closing the spacebetween the front edge, of the basket bottom mem 'ber-and the fireplaee door, in another position extends snbstantially" vertically upwardly closing off the front wailfinernberof the basket,'and in still another position extends substantially horizontally outwardly from the front edge of the basket bottom member.

by way of example, an embodiment of the improved grated fireplace basket construction of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals indicate similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

' Fig, l is a front elevation of a grated fireplace basket, including the improvements of the present invention in a position limiting the amount of air passing beneath the front edge of the basket bottom member;

Fi 2 a s de i w f h basket o Fig; 3, a top plan view of the basket of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4} a fragmentary side view of the basket of Fig. l in a position in which neither the passage of air beneath and through the basket bottom member is limited 'nor the'front Wall member of the basket is closed off; and

Fig. 5, a fragmentary side view of the basket of Fig. 1 ma position in which the front wall member of the baske is o n,

The grated fireplace basket construction comprising the present invention in the embodiment shown in the drawings includes a grated bottom member 10, grated side wall members 11v and 1 2, and'grated front and back wall memhersld' and 14. Further, the bottom member al m mbs s 11 2 1 and a pa P- wa'rdly' from' thefloor' of'a fireplace by a pair of front legs 15 and 16 and a pair of rear legs 17 and 18.

The'front wall member 13 is preferably of greater length thant'he back wall member 14 so that, as shown in Fig, 3 in top plan view, the basket tapers inwardly "front to rear and the legs 15, 1'6, 17 and 18 are y positionedfat the extremities of the side wall members 11 and 12. Still further, the portion of the basket construction thus far described is preferably formed of a one-piece casting of iron, as shown, but may be of any conventional material and design.

The improvements of the present invention include a pair of lugs 19 and 20 connected to the front lower corners of side wall members 11 and 12 and projecting forwardly therefrom. Lug 19 may be formed integrally with side wall member 11, but lug 20 is formed separately from side wall member 12 and is secured thereto by usual fastening means such as welding, as indicated at 21, for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

Each of the lugs 19 and 20 has a keyhole slot 22 formed laterally therethrough in the portions thereof extending forwardly from sidewall members 11 and 12. Each slot 22 includes a circular portion 23 and a parallel sided portion 24 extending downwardly from circular portion 23, as shrown.

A plate member 25 is pivotally connected to and extends between lugs 19 and'20 and in its downward position, as shown in Fig. 1, extends downwardly to within a short distance of the lower ends of the front legs 15 and 16. Thus, as shown, when plate member 25 is'in its downward position, it substantially closes the space between front leg members 15 and 16 and between the front edge or bottom member 10 and the lower ends of front legs 15 and 16 ora fireplace floor upon which these legs would be resting. i

Plate member 25 is pivotally connected to legs 19 and 20 b m ans a p i ofla 'e al y X e d g 1g 26 9 nected to to the upper corners of plate member 25 x ndin ther om Lu s 26. e p efe e x orm integrally itli'p a m e 25 and a a: rived atsia ly through the keyhole slots'22 of'lugs 19 and 20.

' Obviously, at'least one of either the lugs 26 on plate member 25 or'lugs 19 and 20 on side wall members 11 and 12 must be separable from their particular mounting member in order to accomplish this assembly. It s Pr f d her for to f rm l s 26 n pl t member' 25 integral with'plate member 25 and lugs 19 integral'with side wallmem ber 1 1" and, as before described, to form lug 20 separately from side wall member 12 and during assembly attach lug member 20 to side wall member 12 by means of Welding, as at 21.

Lugs 26 on plate member 25 are formed with a substantially square cross section, as best seen in Figs. 2 4 and 5, and are of slightly smaller cross-sectional dimension than the width of the parallel'sided portions 24 of keyhole slots '22. Further, the cross-sectional dimensions of these lugs 26 are smaller than the diameters of the circular portions 23 of keyhole slots 22.

Thus, when plate member 25 is moved upwardly so that lugs 26 are positioned in the circular portions 23 of keyhole slots 22, plate member 25 may be freely pivoted. When, however, the plate member 25 is positioned in a substantially vertically downwardly or upwardly extende ing position, or in asubstantially horizontally extending position, lugs 26 may be moved downwardly in keyhole slots 22, and since lugs 26 are dimensioned so that they cannot rotate in the parallel sided portions 24 of keyhole slots 22, the plate member 25 will be retained in its particular vertically or horizontally'extending position.

Thus, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 plate member 25 extends substantially vertically downwardly and'the lugs 26 are received in the parallel sidedportions 24 of keyhole slots 22, thereby retaining the plate'member this downwardly extending position. Furthen when plate member 25 'is in such downwardlyextending' position, it substantially closes the space between the front edge of the 'bottom'member 10 and the lower ends of front legs 15 and 16 or'a fireplace floor upon whichthe basket CQII'. struction is positioned. V i

As shown in Fig. 4, the plate member 25 has been pivoted to a position extending substantially horizontaly'f om, t e f ont edg gttgm m er .10 an lugs 26 have'bee'n received in the parallel sided portions 24 of the keyhole slots 22, thereby retaining the plate member in this horizontally extending position. Still further, in this position, plate member 25 is not eifective to close off any portion of the basket construction.

Finally, as shown in Fig. 5, the plate member 25 has been pivoted to a substantially vertically extending position and the lugs 26 have been received in the parallel sided portions 24 of keyhole slots 22, thereby again retaining the plate member in this vertically upwardly extending position. In this position, plate member 25 substantially closes off the front wall member 13 of the basket construction while permitting a free flow of air beneath the front edge of bottom member 10.

Thus, in the use of the foregoing improved grated fireplate basket construction, when fuel contained in the basket is first ignited, the plate member 25 is positioned extending yer-tically upwardly closing off the grated front wall member 13, as shown in Fig. 5. This permits a free flow of air beneath the front and side edges of the basket bottom member to the fuel, thereby creating sutficient draft to start the fire while still limiting the How ofsmoke out the front of the fireplace and particularly through the front wall member 13 of the basket.

Further, after the fuel has begun to burn sufficiently, it may be desirable to place the plate member 25 in its horizontally extending position, as shown in Fig. 4, since, after the fire is burning sufficiently, smoke is no longer a problem. Further, at this stage it may still be desirable to allow a free flow of air or, in other words, full draft beneath the front and side edges of the basket bottom member 10 until the fuel is burning completely and rapidly.

Finally, after the fuel is burning rapidly, the plate member 25 may be placed in its downwardly extending position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. In this position, the plate member 25 limits and, in fact, almost completely prevents any flow of air beneath the front edge of bottom member 10 of the basket while still permitting a free flow of air beneath the side edges of bottom member 10.

Thus, in this third position, the use of plate member 25 will substantially decrease the rate of burning of the fuel in the basket construction. Further, there is no danger of the burning of the fuel being completely stopped for lack of air, since a free flow of air is permitted beneath the side edges of the basket bottom member 10.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein, and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of the improved construction illustrated and described herein is by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of the construction shown.

Having now described the invention, the construction, operation and use of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful construction and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grated fireplace basket including a grated bottom member, leg means having lower extremities projecting downwardly beneath said bottom member providing a space between the front and side edges of the bottom member and said lower extremities, a plate member pivotally connected to the basket at the front edge of the bottom member and being selectively pivotal between a first position substantially closing ofi the space between the front edge of the bottom member and the leg means lower extremities and a second position extending substantially vertically upwardly from the front edge of the bottom member, the plate member in its first position 6 limiting the flow of air to the grated bottom member beneath said bottom member front edge and a fireplace floor upon which the basket may be positioned and in its second position closing off a limited space above the front edge of the bottom member, the pivotal connection between the plate member and basket including a pair of lugs mounted on the plate member and a pair of lugs connected to and extending forwardly from the basket member adjacent the front edge of the bottom member, the basket lugs each having a keyhole slot formed therein having a circular portion larger than the cross section of the plate member lugs and a parallel sided portion slightly larger than the plate member lugs cross section, the plate member lugs being received in and freely rotatable in the slot circular portions, the plate member lugs being selectively receivable in the slot parallel sided portions and retained against rotation when the plate member is in either one of its two positions, and'the spaces beneath the bottom member side edges remaining substantially open at all times insuring at least a limited flow of air beneath said bottom member side edges to the grated bottom member.

2. A grated fireplace basket including a grated bottom member, leg means having lower extremities projecting downwardly beneath said bottom member providing a space between the front and side edges of the bottom member and said lower extremities, a plate member pivotally connected to the basket at the front edge of the bottom member and being selectively pivotal between a first position and a second position and a third position, the bottom member in its firs-t position substantially closing off the space betweenthe front edge of the bottom member and the leg means lower extremities, the bottom member in its second position extending substantially vertically upwardly from the front edge of the bottom member for selectively closing off a limited space above the bottom member front edge, the plate member in its third position extending substantially horizontally from the front edge of the bottom member, the pivotal connection between the plate member and the basket including means for selectively retaining the plate member in any one of its three positions, said means retaining including a pair of lugs mounted on the plate member having square cross sections and a pair of lugs connected to the basket extending forwardly of the front edge of the bottom member, said basket lugs each having a keyhole slot formed therein and receiving the plate member lugs therethrough, said keyhole slots each having a circular portion larger than the cross section of the plate member lugs and a downwardly extending parallel sided portion having a width slightly larger than the cross section of the plate member lugs, the plate member being freely pivotal when the plate member lugs are received in the circular portions of the basket slots, the plate member being retained against pivoting when the plate member is in any one of. its three positions and the plate member lugs are received in the slot parallel sided portions, and the spaces beneath the bottom member side edges remaining substantially open at all times insuring at least a limited flow of air beneath said bottom member side edges to the grated bottom member.

3. A grated fireplace basket including a grated bottom member, leg means having lower extremities projecting downwardly beneath said bottom member providing a space between the front and side edges of the bottom member and said lower extremities, a plate member movably connected to the basket at the front edge thereof and being selectively movable between a first position and a second position and a third position, the plate member in its first position substantially closing off the space be tween the front edge of the bottom member and the leg means lower extremities, the plate member in its second position extending substantially vertically upwardly from the front edge of the bottom member for selectively closing off a limited space above said front edge, the plate member in ts thir posit n at least p i y Opening 29th the space between th front dge f e o m in mber and the leg means lower extremities and the 1i. t d. pace a ove. the bo tom m mber front edge, n itionin means ope b y con ec to h plate ber o posit vely reta n n sa d plat mb r in a l as its second and third positions when said plate member is in either of its second, and third positions, and the spaces beneath the bottom member side edges remaining sttbstantially open at all times insuring at least a limited flowofi air beneath said bottom member side edges to the ra d o tom mem er.

4, A grated fireplace basket including a grated bottom member, leg, means having lower extremities projecting downwardlybeneath said bottom member providing a space between the front and side edges of the bottom member and said lower extremities, a plate member movablyconnected to the basket at the front edge thereof and being selectively movable between a first position and a second position and a third position, the plate memher in its first position substantially closing off the space between the front edge of the bottom member and the leg means lower extremities, the plate member in its plate member is in either of its second andthird positions,

and the spaces beneath the bottom member side edges remaining substantially open at all times insuring at least a limited flow of air beneath said bottom member side edges to the grated bottom member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 483,410 Watts Sept. 27, 1892 1,213,538 Raber Jan, 23, 1917 1,505,192 Gervais Aug, 19, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,289 Great Britain Apr. 28, 1904' 20,700 Great Britain Apr. 29, 1909 

